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Great Ages of Man
Age of Enlightenment
Great Ages of Man series from Time-Life Books, this volume featuring The Age of Enlightenment.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1966
2 people are currently reading
275 people want to read
About the author
Peter Gay
125Ìýbooks147ÌýfollowersPeter Joachim Gay was a German-American historian, educator, and author. He was a Sterling Professor of History at Yale University and former director of the New York Public Library's Center for Scholars and Writers (1997â€�2003). He received the American Historical Association's (AHA) Award for Scholarly Distinction in 2004. He authored over 25 books, including The Enlightenment: An Interpretation, a two-volume award winner; Weimar Culture: The Outsider as Insider (1968); and the widely translated Freud: A Life for Our Time (1988).
Gay was born in Berlin in 1923, left Germany in 1939 and emigrated, via Cuba, to the United States in 1941. From 1948 to 1955 he was a political science professor at Columbia University, and then a history professor from 1955 to 1969. He left Columbia in 1969 to join Yale University's History Department as Professor of Comparative and Intellectual European History and was named Sterling Professor of History in 1984.
Gay was the interim editor of The American Scholar after the death of Hiram Haydn in 1973 and served on that magazine's editorial board for many years. Sander L. Gilman, a literary historian at Emory University, called Gay "one of the major American historians of European thought, period".
Gay was born in Berlin in 1923, left Germany in 1939 and emigrated, via Cuba, to the United States in 1941. From 1948 to 1955 he was a political science professor at Columbia University, and then a history professor from 1955 to 1969. He left Columbia in 1969 to join Yale University's History Department as Professor of Comparative and Intellectual European History and was named Sterling Professor of History in 1984.
Gay was the interim editor of The American Scholar after the death of Hiram Haydn in 1973 and served on that magazine's editorial board for many years. Sander L. Gilman, a literary historian at Emory University, called Gay "one of the major American historians of European thought, period".
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 15, 2025
After watching an entertaining British series by Lucy Worsley about the French Revolution, specifically Marie Antoinette, I was intrigued to learn more. I looked in vain through my library but I was pleased to find one in my Husband’s or at least the period leading up to Marie’s demise. He has an almost complete set of the Time-Life book series of the Great Ages of Man.
I found this one, written by Peter Gay, easy to read, meaning it was not a dry historical text. It provided an encompassing overview of this age such as the philosophies, sciences, music, artisans and it is beautifully illustrated. In the appendix is a chronology of noteworthy events and people. I quite enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more in the series.
After reading this book, I discovered that I do have a book written from this time period, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon plus several essays by the “enlightenment� philosophers. These will have to wait though while I delve into my children’s section.
I found this one, written by Peter Gay, easy to read, meaning it was not a dry historical text. It provided an encompassing overview of this age such as the philosophies, sciences, music, artisans and it is beautifully illustrated. In the appendix is a chronology of noteworthy events and people. I quite enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more in the series.
After reading this book, I discovered that I do have a book written from this time period, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon plus several essays by the “enlightenment� philosophers. These will have to wait though while I delve into my children’s section.
April 13, 2025
When we cleared out my mother's house I found a box of these old Time Life 'Great Ages of Man' books (from the 1960s) and remembered reading this in middle school for a report of something. Such a pretty book and a really good overview of historical eras. Great, nostalgic read.
January 23, 2018
Ain't no one write a history as natural as the author. Somehow, it's educative but not in a dictating manner. Though, it's not losing the details and feelings inside. Great book!
March 31, 2020
A period in time elaborated candidly.
Culture, politics, faith, reason and trade all at ago.
Interesting read...
Culture, politics, faith, reason and trade all at ago.
Interesting read...
Read
January 6, 20241126062
Shelved as 'bibliophile'
January 6, 20241126062
September 22, 2022
The late German American Historian Peter Gay’s 1966 edition of the book Age of Enlightenment is a history of the Age of Enlightenment in Europe. For Gay, the era of the Age of Enlightenment in Europe lasted from 1687, when the Physicist Isaac Newton published his Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, until the French Revolution in the late 18th Century. The book is for the series of Time-Life Books� Great Ages of Man. Gay’s book is probably dated, but it is still worth reading if one is interested in the historiography of the history of the Age of Enlightenment in Europe. I thought the book was an excellent introduction to why this Age of Enlightenment was a significant era and the major themes of the era. Gay writes very little on the women of the Age of Enlightenment, which I feel like histories of the Age of Enlightenment written after 1966 would spend more time on the women of Enlightenment and Gay’s book left me wanting to learn more about the women of the Age of Enlightenment. Gay defines the Age of Enlightenment as an intellectual movement made of intellectuals who believed in Newton's scientific teachings and John Locke's philosophy. These Enlightenment intellectuals such as the philosopher Immanuel Kant, Gay writes, “wanted men to shake off the hand of authority in politics and religion and think for themselves� (11). The enlightenment movement these intellectuals hoped would lead to less cruel and arbitrary governance in Europe and more personal freedom for thinkers like themselves (11). The enlightenment movement hugely influenced many aspects of European culture and society, including classical music, as seen in the music of Christoph Gluck, Franz Joseph Haydn, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (122). The book Age of Enlightenment is readable. The book has a beautiful layout, and a photo essay follows each chapter. At the end of the book, there is a Timeline. Even though it was dated, I did not regret reading the Age of Enlightenment.
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September 14, 2014
A good review of basic enlightenment history, but definitely on the traditional history side of things. Read Foucault as antidote, and the Israel as counterpoint. Still, fun to read with lots of pics.
June 30, 2014
A synopsis of how man became hooked on Reason and became anti-religious.
February 15, 2021
Pretty interesting to see how the Enlightenment fitted into European history - setting the stage for the French Revolution. I never realized Voltaire was a pen-name.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
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